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Keeping data private and secret from unauthorized persons is desirable to everyone. People do not want their personal information such as credit card numbers, medical records, or financial documents disseminated without their permission. Businesses often require that only authorized personnel view or have access to various documents and information. Even the government, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, has high demand for keeping government matters secret and private, especially matters of national security. In today""s technologically advanced society, it is becoming easier for a computer hacker to obtain access to secret files of the unwary data owner.
Currently, to prevent unauthorized access to data being stored on a hard drive of a computer or to send data over the Internet, encryption is used to scramble the message. There are numerous ways to encrypt plaintext. Some encryption techniques use one private access key for encryption and decryption. The private access key manipulates plaintext into ciphertext and vice versa. This is often referred to as a xe2x80x9csymmetric algorithm.xe2x80x9d Because the same key is used for encryption and decryption, security and protection of the plaintext is directly related to the private key owner""s ability to keep the private key hidden or secret from unauthorized users.
Another method of encryption uses a public key to encrypt plaintext into ciphertext and a private key to decrypt the ciphertext into a readable message. This technique is referred to as an asymmetric algorithm. Because the encryption key can be released into the public domain, no harm is done unless the private key is discovered to decrypt the ciphertext.
Regardless of what technique is used, in traditional encryption one basic premise is retained: one file equals one message. Traditional encryption methods have many problems, including lack of efficiency, reliability and simplicity of use. To completely privatize computer data, a system and method are needed that break out of the conventional encryption wisdom that one file equals one message. Nothing in the art suggests or teaches a method to easily privatize data in such a way that the user(s) is not even aware of the high level of security being provided. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method for privatizing computer data wherein data files are fragmented, randomly interspersed with other fragments from other files to form composite files and then randomly dispersed to hidden locations over the Internet, a hard drive of a stand-alone personal computer and/or other media, such that only authorized users have access to such data.
A system and method for privatizing computer data comprises the steps of opening a plurality of original data files, fragmenting said original data files into fragments, and interspersing said fragments among each other forming composite files, which together with an index file comprise a privacy protected archive. The method then comprises the steps of creating a reconstitution file, which identifies hidden dispersion locations and placement of individual fragments to reconstruct the original data files. Finally, the composite files may be dispersed to the hidden locations. To enhance security, each fragment is disguised through an exclusive OR operation and other mathematical operations, with the disguising directed by a fragment handling guide drawn from a random table, before interspersing fragments within the composite files.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data, which provides substantially complete security from unauthorized persons, without resorting to strong encryption techniques.
Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data, which provides freedom from data mining.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data by dispersing files to hidden locations on the Internet and/or other media.
Further, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer data wherein only authorized users on authorized computers can open a reconstitution file to obtain access to the computer data.
Still yet, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files, which serves as an encryption enhancer in that the method can be used on files that are already encrypted.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files, which uses cascading fragmentation.
Further, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files which protects from file loss through automated redundancy.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files wherein data restoration is tightly controlled and the fragmentation process is precisely reversed in order to reconstitute data.
Still, another objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for privatizing computer files wherein computer files can be automatically restored to the original directory locations.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for privatizing computer files wherein an older version does not overwrite a newer copy unless specifically requested.
Still yet, another objective of the present invention is to provide a computer readable medium containing instruction for controlling a computer system to perform a method, where the method comprises the steps of providing a plurality of original data files, providing a plurality of fragment storage structures, providing a plurality of composite files, providing at least two locations for storing the plurality of composite files, fragmenting the original data files into fragments, reading each of the fragments from the plurality of original data files, writing each of the fragments into one of the plurality of fragment storage structures, forming interspersed fragments, filling the fragment storage structures with fragments, and writing the interspersed fragments to the composite files.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for privatizing computer files that is economical in price and light in its demands on computer resources.